We are excited to announce our third Ambassador on the ARMC program for 2022 – Tumi Mogapi. Welcome on board! Tumi is the Chapter Chair of Women in Music South Africa. She is also the Head of Music Publishing at Africori Music Group, and has extensive background in music publishing and music rights discipline.
She has taken over and added some tunes to our ARMC Playlist on Spotify. You can read our interview with her, in preparation for the Conference. We hope you enjoy it!
Q: Tell us about your journey within the South African Music Industry so far. Furthermore, what keeps you motivated and inspired to push forward?
A: It has been an interesting journey for my growth from working for a mechanical rights collecting body, to the first independent music publisher – Gallo Music Publishers then moved to Sheer Publishing, also an independent music publisher. In 2018 I got an opportunity to work for SAMRO dealing with public performance rights. I’m currently heading the Publishing business at Africori while also getting exposure to the distribution business. I have been lucky to have people and mentors opening doors for me and believing in me.
Q: What drives your passion through the work that you are doing, especially your work with WIM?
A: I naturally love helping people where I can, because through that I also get to learn new things or new information. Also knowing that we’ve come this far from a time where women in the music industry didn’t have organized and intentional communities to advance them and now we are making sure that there is a place where women can seek these resources.
Q: What does the slogan “Africa Your Time is Now” mean to you?
A: It means that we need to be proud of who we are now more than ever. We need to produce what is authentic to us so we can also leave our mark in the world and be able to sustain our creative industries.
Q: In your opinion, are women represented enough within the music scene both locally and internationally?
A: I think we’ve seen some improvement, with more women getting CEO positions, yet we still have some areas of the industry that still need to open up for women, such as the live and music production businesses.
Q: If not, how can we combat this?
A: It’s important for us to keep having these conversations so we can identify solutions that can be implemented.
Q: Why do you think an event like ARMC is important for the African/EU market as a whole?
A: It is vital for both markets as it provides a platform for networking, skills exchange and it is also the bridge for these two worlds.
Q: Currently, who is your favourite African artist? Why?
A: I have more than one, definitely Busiswa, Msaki, Shekhinah, Pabi Cooper, Tiwa Savage and Tems are on my radio all the time! They all hold their own African elements in their music and they are defining African music in many ways while at the same time proving that our music is of high quality and also exportable.
Q: To end the interview, can you leave us with a motivational quote for anyone who might be struggling to get their music career off the ground, and for someone who is interested in pursuing a career in the music industry as a beginner?
A: It’s important to ask yourself what your value proposal is. For example if you’re an artist, an important question would be “What does your message and existence do for your fans or potential fans?”
You can now buy your tickets for the Conference directly here. Stay tuned and don’t miss our next Ambassadors! We will be announcing them here, and in our Instagram account. For further information, do not hesitate to join our Newsletter.